Sisters/Eldritch Synths

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whateverman
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Hi all,

This is my first post ! ...and I've been waiting for years to know what synths are used on the album Floodland (which in my opinion must be the same as those used on Gift)...

Any insight is *very* welcome ! :)

W.
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robertzombie
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Yes and any tabs too please :D Me and my mate a doing a band and we plan on doing a cover. although, it won't be easy!
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electronic ones
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James Blast wrote:electronic ones
They're the way forward, aren't they :D

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aims
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For all your Sisters-related techie needs:
http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/tech/tech-i.htm
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whateverman
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thanks for your help !

Can't seem to find what synths were used for Colours or Flood though... or even the string pads on Lucretia... so if anyone knows, please help ! :)

Thanks again.
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Mr. Wah
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Neverland... only Von could use a children's Casio keyboard and get away with it. :notworthy:
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If you'e planning on buying expensive synthesizers to replicate the sound of Floodland or to do a couple cover songs, then you really shouldn't bother.

Instead of trying to make an exact replica of the Sisters song, you should really try and make it your own. Try and give it something the original song doesn't have.

And you really don't want to be replicating the sound of Floodland. Do you really want to be put in the same category as rip-offs such as The Nephilim?
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I had the loan of a very good synth recently for 1 day before it got delivered to someone, anoyed the hell out of my household ALL night with my woeful tuneless repetitive attempts at replication, so I gave up and twiddled.
Sounded like SSV actually. :D
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whateverman
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Nick, I'm pretty much sure that the synths used for Floodland are not necessarily expensive anymore - but I just like these textures for what they are ! I don't intend to do a cover or rip off an overall sound. Besides, no matter which machines Andrew Eldritch used, many people used the same brands and similar sounds in different ways ! :)

And thanks Mr. Wah, I knew about the Casio for Neverland... :)

From what I gather, the sounds I'm looking for may actually be coming from Akai S1000 and Emax II soundbanks and maybe the occasional Roland D-50...

Extra confirmations much appreciated ! :)
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Izzy HaveMercy
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I think it is very difficult to say exactly which instrument/effect rack is used for a specific instrument.

The Flood-sound does not really sound like a Roland sound IMO, bu then again, they could use a Roland and squeeze it through the Emu or the Korg (as they did for a lot of bass guitar).

Also, the NordLead is capable of nearly eveything, so could really be a chain of samplers/synths, giving you a sound so far from the presets it's a bugger to find out...

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whateverman
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I agree, doesn't sound like there's much Roland in there... I find some of the sounds similar to some used on Nine Inch Nails' "Pretty Hate Machine" album from 1989, which was mainly based on Emax synthesis... especially the sound playing the main theme on "Colours". Maybe there's something here...

As for the Nord Lead, it is much too recent to have been an option in Mr. Eldritch's set-up then, but it's true, it does sound like the piece of gear that could reproduce some of these sounds quite accurately.

Anyway thanks all ! :)
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Izzy HaveMercy
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whateverman wrote:As for the Nord Lead, it is much too recent to have been an option in Mr. Eldritch's set-up then, but it's true, it does sound like the piece of gear that could reproduce some of these sounds quite accurately.

Anyway thanks all ! :)
Didn't think about THAT ;) NordLead was manufactured not earlier than 1995.

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Is there any documentation or mention anywhere of what synths Von has used on his music? Floodland and Gift era most notably. Dr Av has been well documented and the post Hussey era guitarists have done gear breakdowns. I’ve never seen any mention of the synths used despite them being a really huge part of those 2 mentioned albums. I know Von is a Logic user, maybe he just used in the box plug ins. Or is he a vintage analogue guy?
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I don't think Logic even existed at the time Gift and Floodland were recorded...
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Not Logic, and unlikely to be soft synths back then.

It would have been actual "hardware" synths - I recall hearing Eldritch had acquired a few over the years, and that he used to noodle around with them on his own in his spare time, which would also explain much of SSV too.

In terms of sequencers, when Adam was involved they would have been using Pro Tools as he was very much a PT guy, and his studio used to advertise itself as a PT studio. Live, they used to use old school hardware sequencers which made touring very expensive and cumbersome, and quite flaky. These days they're all running MacBooks, so it could well be Logic. Not 100% sure on that tbh.
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I've merged this with a (very old) topic along the same lines.
Scroll up a few posts & there is more (not a lot though) info on what may or may have not been used ;)
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good shout @Pista

@DJElectricDaddy some (old) info here: http://www.thesistersofmercy.com/tech/tech-i.htm
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LyanvisAberrant
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To get floodland era synth tones, you'll need one hell of a rack. So much of that sound was created in post.
I imagine it's something juno esque. Perhaps a prophet, but I can't see why.
I've managed to get this corrosion esque bass tones from my minimoog clone with a juno style chorus, but that could be pure coincidence.
If there are any other old school synth nerds on here, I would love to hear your thoughts.
(On another note, I was planning on making a document of every single drum machine the sisters used in their early era, but upon starting Trevors "waiting for another war" I realised that I was too late)
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LyanvisAberrant wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 12:39
(On another note, I was planning on making a document of every single drum machine the sisters used in their early era, but upon starting Trevors "waiting for another war" I realised that I was too late)
That's in the wiki anyway ;)
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Quiff Boy wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 09:37
These days they're all running MacBooks, so it could well be Logic. Not 100% sure on that tbh.
I can confirm it's Logic. Ben told me Dave's and Dylan's mastery of the software was crucial for putting the new songs together, so since they'll still sequence all stuff live, it's fair to assume they use it there too
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doctor_jeep wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 14:07
Quiff Boy wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 09:37
These days they're all running MacBooks, so it could well be Logic. Not 100% sure on that tbh.
I can confirm Logic. Ben told me Dave's and Dylan's mastery of the software was crucial for putting the new songs together, so since they'll still sequence all stuff live, it's fair to assume they use it there too
Cool! Thanks for confirming :)
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LyanvisAberrant
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Pista wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 12:43
LyanvisAberrant wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 12:39
(On another note, I was planning on making a document of every single drum machine the sisters used in their early era, but upon starting Trevors "waiting for another war" I realised that I was too late)
That's in the wiki anyway ;)
I am not a clever man :lol: thank you, Pista x
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markfiend wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 09:18 I don't think Logic even existed at the time Gift and Floodland were recorded...
Yeah logic has been around since the 80s. Apple bought it from a German company emagic in the early noughties
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Pista wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 09:38 I've merged this with a (very old) topic along the same lines.
Scroll up a few posts & there is more (not a lot though) info on what may or may have not been used ;)
Yes, thanks Pista, appreciated. Reading the comments about the Akai sampler makes a fair bit of sense. Sort of build your own synth out of sampled tones. Not familiar with emax tho so I’ll have to go do some reading on all that
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